HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 589        FILED ON: 1/25/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2628

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Shawn Dooley

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act providing disability benefits for police officers with certain conditions of cancer.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 589        FILED ON: 1/25/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2628

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2240 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act providing disability benefits for police officers with certain conditions of cancer.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following new section:-

“Section 94C. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, any condition of cancer affecting the skin or the central nervous, lymphatic, endocrine glands, digestive, hematological, urinary, skeletal, oral or prostate systems, lung or respiratory tract, resulting in total disability or death to a member of a paid police department, or a member of the state police shall, if they successfully passed a physical examination on entry into such service or subsequent to such entry, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, be presumed to have been suffered in the line of duty, unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that non-service connected risk factors or non-service connected accidents or hazards undergone, or any combination thereof, caused such incapacity. The provisions of this section shall only apply if the disabling or fatal condition is a type of cancer which may, in general, result from radiation, air pollutants, particulate matter, chemical agents, or a known or suspected carcinogen as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, so called.

(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person serving in such positions for fewer than five years at the time that such condition is first discovered. Any person first discovering any such condition within five years of the last date on which such person actively so served shall be eligible to apply for benefits hereunder, and such benefits, if granted, shall be payable as of the date on which the employee last received regular compensation. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person serving in such position unless such person shall first establish that he has regularly engaged in regular police shift work during some portion of the period of his service in such position.

(3) The provisions of this section shall also apply to any condition of cancer, other than those listed in subsection (a), which, in general, may result from radiation, air pollutants, particulate matter, chemical agents, or a known or suspected carcinogen as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, so called, and the incidence of which is found by regulation by the commissioner of the department of public health to have a statistically significant correlation with police service.

(4) Nothing herein shall preclude a member from applying for and receiving benefits under section 7 or section 9, subject to the provisions of said sections.”